Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is 100% Correct

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is 100% Correct
(The unwavering emblem of Burmese National Character)

Kanbawza Win

When it come to national character I could not stay aloof, even though my eye specialist refrain me to working too much on computer, as I have just celebrated by 73rd birthday. In my earlier essay I have highlighted of how the success of the coming unfair elections will depend on the third party participating and now the NLD is at the cross road. If one were to look back at the not so recent history of modern Burma, it starts with the concordat at Panglong Conference where the ethnic nationalities decided to throw their lot with the Myanmar/Burman to gain independence from Britain. The authentic Burmese national characteristic of Union of Burma (Pyidaungsu Thar (ျပည္ေထာင္စုသား) torch by our beloved Bogyoke Aung San was short lived as the civilian government could not solve the ethnic grievances and the end result was the military administration came into power in 1959 as a caretaker and three years later in a coup de’é tat.

The Tatmadaw led by its successive Generals had tasted power and will never let it go until and unless forcibly taken from them. The whole concept of this unfair election with a rigged Nargis Constitution (also known as the 3rd Constitution) is that the Tatmadaw Generals knew that they had all the time being a de facto administration rather than a de jure government which they crave very much in the international arena. In their hearts of hearts they realize that the pungent smell of the word “Myanmar,” is so obnoxious among the civilized community of the world, that no one would even dared to mention their name. Hence either by hook or by crook they will have to implement this unjustified election, just to get a semblance of legitimacy.

Concerning this, whether one should participate or not, many theories for the pros and cons have been put up by various groups’ individuals, parties and organization both by the Myanmar and the Non Myanmar. The Non-Myanmar or rather the ethnic nationalities (they cannot be label as minorities because how can 40% of the country’s population of 50 plus million can be label as minority) under the umbrella of ENC accepted the theory of defeatism and encourage the ethnic nationalities in participating, their hypothesis being that if they did not put up their own men, the Junta will choose someone instead. The Council leadership, do not have the will nor strength and lamentably courage and vision is solely lacking and tend to accept the Machiavellian theory that “the end justifies the means” and that might is right, that the ethnic nationalities should take something out of nothing. This kind of logic is not unexpected for its leader hailing from a family whose grandfather instead of joining the resistance brought in the British when King Thibaw was dethrone, and whose father not satisfied to be the chief of Shan opt to be a chief of the Burman/Myanmar later died in jail. Behind them is the NRP whose point man is not from Burma but a hook nose farang with ulterior motives. No doubt it was under their patronage that some of the ethnic nationalities are participating in the coming elections. Perhaps one would rather agree with what Ko Nyi of Nederland who wrote that they should all go back to Burma and compete in the elections.

On the pro democracy movement, there are many apologists, psychopaths, opportunists, cronies and some sincere followers. In the category of Diaspora, a great majority harbour nostalgia and missed their loved ones back at home and is finding a pretext to go home on conditions that they will not be persecuted once in Burma, as they had done to Nyi Nyi Aung. Obviously these homesick Burmese wish to go back and be somebody in Burma as they are tired living a life of nonentity in foreign lands. Hence a great many of them put up their theory of participating in the elections and in Vancouver the Sino Burmese community led by a self appointed Christian pastor encouraged by the former narco boss openly lobby for Junta.

But the majority of the activists inside the country are in the doldrums being put between the devil and the deep sea and seems to be wavering. However it was only Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a true daughter of a sincere patriot that come out boldly and truthfully regarding the elections and it was she that continue to hold the banner of the Burmese national characteristics. Like her martyred Daddy, she is not only the icon but ready to sacrifice her life for the sake of the country and people against the thugs of the Burmese Tatmadaw. She knew that if she wavered, Burma will go down the drain forever as a country whose leaders are liars as they lie the very concept of truth, whose armed forces is a rapist army, known in Burmese as Mudane Tatmadaw (မုဒိမ္းတပ္မေတာ္) a government that is indirectly involved in narcotic trade, and would not hesitate to commit gross human rights violations and ethnic cleansing. She knows that “ if wealth is lost, nothing is lost, but if health is lost something is lost but if character is lost then everything is lost” and whether she competes in election or not could not bear to lose the national characteristics of Burma. Hence she stands firm.

She also knew that the moral degradation of the country has spiralled down since 1962 when an immoral military Junta came into being. So the younger generation of activists both inside and outside Burma were being brought up in the Ne Win era and those of the ex brass members of the NLD knows very little about the national characteristics of the country. She also seems to sense that the purer stock of the Myanmar are more sincere than the half caste Sino Burman who are at the helm of the country’s Tatmadaw and is unwittingly taking the country into the Chinese orbit somewhat to be like Tibet, the next autonomous region of China (the authentic prove of it is that China will always defends Burma at the UN and other international agencies). Hence she has come out strongly.

She knew that "The evil deserves no aid", and that "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me" for morality refers to personal or cultural values, codes of conduct or social mores that distinguish between right and wrong in the human society. Describing the Burmese morality in this way is not making a claim about what is objectively right or wrong, but only referring to what is considered right or wrong by people. It could be defined as the conduct of the ideal "moral" person in a certain situation and this is exactly what Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in. The universal, eternal moral truths are known as moral absolutism which she alone has, whereas the Tatmadaw Generals could not comprehend what is moral, ethical, virtuous, righteous and noble.

Morality in the context of Burmese politics is a timely topic as it is a good way to approach it. One starting point is the change in the socio-structural and socio-cultural conditions of the military era since 1962 which involves change in the empirical conditions of moral action and in the social demand on morality as the drug war lords and cronies became the perfect gentlemen of Myanmar. All these changes are accounted for and analyzed in the social sciences, new perspectives emerge that give rise to new ways of framing issues and problems and hence there are those who construe that this election is worth its salt.

For the majority of the people of Burma the degradation of the national character is a rallying cry. A national character, to the extent that such a thing can be defined, changes slowly, and it is in rare person like Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who can feel what is happening before the process is almost complete. Time has come to the people of Burma to demonstrate their national character of whether to yield to the military thugs or stood our ground, come what may, for men may come and men may go but the Genuine Union of Burma which Bogyoke Aung San had ignited will go on forever.

The people of Burma both Myanmar and non Myanmar have common sense, a cognitive science, all these unjust electoral laws and the tyrannical rules imposed by the Tatamadaw on the people of Burma for more than half a century cannot last forever. Common sense has a conceptual structure that is usually unconscious. It is the commonsensical quality of political discourse that makes it imperative to decide. Now the world will judge us how the people of Burma for two or three generations react to this crisis and as a people are we willing, characteristic, assertiveness or independence.

To the ethnic nationalities, please remember Bogyoke Aung San and the fallen ethnic leaders, they have not die in vain and continue to uphold their dream of Genuine Pyidaungsu (စစ္မွန္ေသာျပည္ေထာင္စု) which the current Generals ridiculed. Please stay united through thick and thin, and do not be fooled by those who are able to tap the international resources for them. For the people of Myanmar especially to the NLD, these unjust laws and unfair elections is not a fait accompli, rather a time to prove that the dignity and the principles of the people are more important than the existence of the political party. Please continue to stand on the moral high ground for history to judge us with dignity and not to legitimize the Junta for the whole world is behind you and who knows may deliver a coup de grace for the tyrannical Junta.

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